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I’ve been thinking about Mr. Money Mustache’s recent conversation with Andrew Horowitz and the misconceptions he had about what it means to live frugally. Being frugal doesn’t mean cheap. It doesn’t mean deprivation. It’s not about eliminating everything fun in your life that you enjoy. As MMM says, This is not about being cheap, minimalist, or extreme. It’s about using …

Why the modern world is bad for your brain (Guardian) Kids eat too much pizza (duh?) (WP) Fixing the kidney shortage (Atlantic) Fantastic profile of billionaire founder of Sierra Nevada (Bloomberg) The life of an NHP dentist (Bleacher Report) Fantastic perspective on the changing landscape of tv (WSJ) Millennials still like the suburbs (WSJ) Why you should buy a camera …

People often ask me how I managed to get through college without any debt or parental assistance, so I thought I’d outline my process here. It’s not an option for everybody but it worked for me. I don’t come from a well off family. I grew up in a household that depending on the year (my dad’s income was pretty …

I recently finished The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. I owe our roommate Jane a debt of gratitude for introducing me to Cixin. She’s Chinese and gifted me the English version, saying it was her favorite Chinese fiction. This is the first Chinese science-fiction to become a major hit to the point that it has been translated and distributed in …

It’s my favorite sale of the year. Urban Harvest had it’s enormous annual fruit tree sale! As usual you have to get up bright and early to have a chance at the more popular stuff. We arrived a few minutes before 8am (opening at 9), handed over our ID’s for a red wagon, and took our place in line behind …

I have a friend with a CPA, that like me works for a major oil and gas firm. I always knew he was working his side hustle but I didn’t how well he was actually doing. In a few years of hard work, my friend has managed to amass almost $30,000 per year in side earnings! 2,500 per month! That’s massive. …

Philip Morris (NYSE:PM) and FX Affects and great analysis on JNJ (Tim McAleenan) Most Hated Stocks in 2015 (Marketwatch) What Homebrew is looking to invest in 2015 (Quip) The internet goes after insurance (NYT) Amazon is now making movies? (Variety) The “Netflix of books” catches on (Wired) MBA’s go startup (FT) The Secret to raising smart kids (Scientific America) Obama proposes …

I thought I’d jot down a few thoughts on the SOTU address. Not really from a political standpoint, but more practical and personal finance. This isn’t a political deep dive so if you saw something different, throw it in the comments and let’s discuss. Making Community College Free Marginal Revolution hit the nail on the head with this post. As …

I work in Houston, which lives and dies by the price of oil and gas. When commodity prices are up, we’re a true boom town, but when they go bad, the whole city can go south quickly. Just in the past week, Schlumberger has announced at least 9,000 layoffs and dozens of other smaller companies are following similar exercises. The …